Coleman bolsters war chest in re-election bid

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman has raised so much money for his re-election bid, he'd be a top contender even if he were running in the pricey Minneapolis mayoral derby.

But he's in St. Paul, where campaign finance reports released Tuesday showed him far outpacing the only one of his three challengers to file a statement of contributions received and expenditures made in the last few months.

Coleman, a DFLer seeking his third term, has raised more than $118,000 since Jan. 30 from about 750 donors, according to a 44-page document filed with the Ramsey County elections bureau. His cash on hand, which includes the previous balance and expenses, was reported at nearly $139,000.

Tim Holden, a landlord and businessman running against Coleman as an independent, has raised nearly $10,000 since May. About $9,300 of it came from a loan Holden made to the campaign, his report shows, and his cash on hand was just over $100.

Sharon Anderson and Kurt Dornfeld did not file reports.

In the race for the St. Paul City Council's First Ward seat, Johnny Howard, a community organizer, reported raising nearly $8,700 with cash on hand of more than $3,800. City Council aide Noel Nix raised nearly $5,400 and Republican-endorsed Paul Holmgren reported having $133 cash on hand. Kazoua Kong-Thao, Debbie Montgomery, Dai Thao and Mark Voerding failed to file by Tuesday's deadline.